Thymus Atrophy and Double-Positive Escape Are Common Features in Infectious Diseases
Figure 3
Thymectomy modulates splenic cell numbers during acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Mice were thymectomized and, six days later, were infected intraperitoneally by the Tulahuén strain of T. cruzi. Animals were killed at 19 days postinfection, and subcutaneous (SCLN), mesenteric (MLN), lymph nodes and spleen cell numbers were evaluated. (a) Representative data demonstrating TCR expression in CD4 and CD8 T cells in SCLN, MLN, and spleen, analyzed by flow cytometry. (b) Data show fold change of 6–8 animals/group where (white rectangle) represents sham-operated control, (black rectangle) sham-operated infected, (light grey rectangle) thymectomized control, and (dark grey rectangle) thymectomized infected mice. Results were representative of three different experiments and were expressed as mean ± standard deviation, ns: not significant, *, **, and ***, after comparison by One Way ANOVA.
